AMA opposes proposed cuts, gag orders for reproductive health

08/01/2018

(HealthDay)—The American Medical Association (AMA) strongly objects to the Trump administration’s plan to withhold federal family planning funding from Planned Parenthood and other entities, according to a statement released by the organization.

The AMA says the cuts would impact the Title X program, which ensures that uninsured and low-income patients have access to basic, preventive reproductive health care, including birth control, cancer screenings, sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment, and exams. This national program serves four million people each year.

“High-quality medical care relies on honest, unfiltered conversations between patients and their physicians,” David Barbe, M.D., immediate past president of the AMA, said in a statement. “Gag orders that restrict the ability of physicians to explain all options to their patients and refer them—whatever their health care needs—compromise this relationship and force physicians and nurses to withhold information that their patients need to make decisions about their care.”